New Year’s Resolutions for Crafters

Happy New Year! Greeting Card With Hand Lettering -- Photo Courtesy of Jay-Pee Peña

Happy New Year! Greeting Card With Hand Lettering — Photo Courtesy of Jay-Pee Peña

Happy 2024, everyone! Who’s making New Year’s resolutions this year? Anyone want to share theirs?


If you need some goal-setting inspiration for a new year or any time, here’s a quick list of possible knitting, crochet and craft related resolutions you could make.

I Will Learn _______________, Where _______________ Is a Craft or DIY Technique You Have Been Wanting to Attempt:

Any time is a fantastic time to learn a new craft — but beginning your crafting journey at the start of a new year is especially appealing, because that makes it so much easier to track the time you are spending and monitor your own progress.


It is possible to set either broad goals or highly focused goals for learning new craft techniques. That said, my experience has been that people are likelier to succeed with more focused goals than they are with broad ones.


Examples of broad goals would be “I will learn how to crochet, how to knit, How to Make a Scrapbook, how to make cards, how to paint, how to color or how to do brush lettering.


Examples of more focused goals would be “I will learn how to crochet a granny square, and I will make 52 granny squares — one for each week in 2024 — to use for making a throw”.


Do you agree that setting a more specific goal will give you something more concrete to aim for? If done correctly, this can increase your chances of actually succeeding at achieving your goal.


Of course, you could also decide you want to set your New Year’s goals around learning more about a craft you’re already proficient in; if you’re already an experienced card maker, perhaps you might decide that this is the year you want to figure out how to make shaker cards. If you already know how to crochet, perhaps this year you’ll work on learning a more advanced crochet technique such as tapestry crochet, overlay crochet, mosaic crochet or corner-to-corner crochet.

Other Worthy New Year’s Resolutions for Crafters:

  • I will teach someone how to crochet, knit, scrapbook, make cards, or whatever it is you do — or even better, teach __* people how to do this.
  • I will knit, crochet or craft __* item(s) for charity
  • I will complete __* projects (or more)
  • I will finish or frog (unravel) all my unfinished projects
  • I will learn __* new knitting or crochet stitches
  • I will create an exquisite family heirloom to be passed down to a child or grandchild- perhaps an heirloom-quality scrapbook filled with family photos, a beaded bag worked from a vintage pattern, or an elegant lace tablecloth.
  • I will get organized this year! I will organize my paper / stamp / marker / yarn / thread stash, and donate or give away any supplies I don’t plan to use.

*__= fill in this blank with whatever number you think would be a good goal. Pick a number that is small enough to be manageable, yet large enough that you’ll feel like you really accomplished something when you’ve reached the goal.

Resources for Achieving Your New Year’s Resolutions:

Learn How to Crochet or Knit; Learn New Crochet and Knitting Skills: You can take a variety of different crochet classes, knitting classes and other crafting classes either online or in person. If you’d be interested in the the online version, there are several resources I can recommend:

Learn New Crochet Stitches: Here are a few you can try:

  • If you haven’t already learned Tunisian crochet stitches such as afghan stitch, those are a fantastic place to start. Tunisian crochet stitches will greatly expand your capabilities in crochet.
  • Shell stitch
  • Edge stitches
  • See more choices: free crochet stitch instructions
  • Get Inspiration for Organizing Your Craft Supplies:

    Planning to get organized in 2024? Need some new organizers to keep your craft supplies safe, organized and easily accessible? ArtBin Craft Organizers are ideal for organizing any craft supplies you have in your stash. I use mine for organizing papers, rubber stamps, clear stamps, ribbon, fabric, yarn, crochet hooks, knitting needles, beads, buttons and various other sundries.

    Planning to get organized in 2024? Need some new organizers to keep your craft supplies safe, organized and easily accessible? ArtBin Craft Organizers are ideal for organizing any craft supplies you have in your stash. I use mine for organizing papers, rubber stamps, clear stamps, ribbon, fabric, yarn, crochet hooks, knitting needles, beads, buttons and various other sundries.

    • If you need ideas for how to organize yarn for knitting, crochet, weaving or other yarn crafts, I invite you to take a look at my favorite yarn organizers and yarn organization strategies on this page. One highlight: A former colleague of mine, Beth Peterson, shared some truly inspiring photos of her organized crochet supplies. She’s been keeping everything in a basket, which is lined with a custom-made holder for her crochet hooks. Check it out!
    • How are your craft supplies organized? We’d love to have information about how you approach it; please share tips in the comments section.

    Learn New Craft Skills

    We’ve posted a wide variety of resources to help you with learning new craft skills and techniques.


    My 2024 Crafty New Year’s Resolutions

    I am still pondering what my goals for 2024 will be. I am in a time of major transition, and I have major decisions to make. I’m going to be intentional about making these decisions, so I’m not sure I’ll have them finalized by the arbitrary deadline of January 1, 2024 (which is tomorrow — how did that happen? 2023 went by too quickly!)


    I do know this: I plan to continue with what has been working well for me, which is using my planner to use my time and resources intentionally.

    In 2022, I resolved to live more intentionally and to plan every day. I wanted to do better with tracking my water consumption, wellness and daily activities so I didn’t just waste all my time online looking at cute cat pictures (or reading nonsense memes, or whatever). While I didn’t actually succeed at planning every day in 2022, or in 2023 either, I did plan often enough to feel like I succeeded at the goal reasonably well overall.


    Dear readers, I invite you to set ambitious goals. You won’t ever meet goals that you don’t set in the first place — and partial successes are better than no successes.

    Share Your New Year’s Resolutions

    Are you making any knitting, crochet or craft-related New Year’s resolutions this year? If so, please share them in the comments section!

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